The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the states of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Established in 1921, the Southern Conference ranks as the fifth-oldest major college athletic conference in the United States, and either the third or fourth oldest in continuous operation, depending on definitions.
Randy Sanders is a former American football coach.
The East Tennessee State Buccaneers are the 17 intercollegiate athletics teams that represent East Tennessee State University (ETSU), located in Johnson City, Tennessee. ETSU's teams include men and women's basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, and track and field; women's-only softball and volleyball; and men's-only baseball and football. The Buccaneers compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon).
The East Tennessee State Buccaneers football program is the intercollegiate American football team for East Tennessee State University (ETSU) located in Johnson City, Tennessee. The team was dormant from the end of the 2003 season until being reinstated for the 2015 season. They played all of their 2015 home games and all but one of their 2016 home games at Kermit Tipton Stadium before the opening of the new William B. Greene Jr. Stadium for the 2017 season. The remaining 2016 home game, against Western Carolina on September 17, was played at nearby Bristol Motor Speedway, which was already set up for football due to a game the prior week between the University of Tennessee and Virginia Tech. Before ETSU dropped football, it competed in NCAA Division I as a Southern Conference (SoCon) football program. The revived program played as an independent in 2015 before returning to the SoCon in 2016.
The East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball team represents East Tennessee State University (ETSU), located in Johnson City, Tennessee, in men's college basketball. East Tennessee State is coached by Brooks Savage and currently competes in the Southern Conference. The team last played in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in 2017. In March 2020 the Buccaneers won the SoCon championship.
The 2015 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team represented East Tennessee State University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by first-year head coach Carl Torbush. The 2015 season was their first season since 2003, when the program was discontinued. They played their home games at Kermit Tipton Stadium, located on the campus of Science Hill High School. For the 2015 season, the Buccaneers were classified as an FCS independent school, meaning they had no athletic conference affiliation in football for the season. However, they will become football members of the Southern Conference in 2016, a league that ETSU rejoined for non-football sports in 2014 after a nine-year absence. They finished the season 2–9 with wins over Warner and Kentucky Wesleyan.
The East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's soccer team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee, United States. The team is a member of the Southern Conference, which is part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. ETSU's first men's soccer team was fielded in 2008. The team plays its home games at Summers-Taylor Stadium on the ETSU campus. The Buccaneers were coached by Bo Oshoniyi until he was hired away by Dartmouth College. In March 2018, ETSU announced the hiring of former University of Kentucky assistant coach David Casper. Following his dismissal in 2021, David Lilly assumed the post of head coach. Lilly would go on to win the 2023 SoCon Coach of the Year award. Allen Vital was appointed as the head coach in February of 2024 following the departure of David Lilly to UAB Blazers men's soccer.
The 2016 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team represented East Tennessee State University (ETSU) in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season and were in the first year of their second stint as football members of the Southern Conference (SoCon). ETSU had originally joined the SoCon in 1978, with football joining in 1979, but dropped the sport after the 2003 season and left the conference entirely in 2005. ETSU returned to the SoCon as a full but non-football member in 2014, at that time announcing that the school would reinstate football with play beginning in the 2015 season. The Buccaneers played that season as an FCS independent.
The 1996 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team represented East Tennessee State University as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 1996 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Led by Mike Cavan in his fifth and final season as head coach, the Buccaneers compiled an overall record of 10–3 with a mark of 7–1 in conference play, placing second in the SoCon behind Marshall. East Tennessee State advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship playoffs, where they beat Villanova in the first round before falling to Montana in the quarterfinals.
The 2017 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team represented East Tennessee State University (ETSU) in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season and are in the second year of their second stint as football members of the Southern Conference (SoCon). They are led by third-year head coach Carl Torbush and, for the first time, play all their home games at William B. Greene Jr. Stadium. They finished the season 4–7, 2–6 in SoCon play to finish in eighth place.
The 2018 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team represented East Tennessee State University (ETSU) in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season and were in the third year of their second stint as football members of the Southern Conference (SoCon). They were led by first-year head coach Randy Sanders and played their home games at William B. Greene Jr. Stadium. They finished the season 8–4, 6–2 in SoCon play to win a share of the SoCon championship. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs, where they lost to Jacksonville State in the first round.
The 2018–19 East Tennessee Buccaneers basketball team represented East Tennessee State University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Buccaneers, led by fourth-year head coach Steve Forbes, played their home games at the Freedom Hall Civic Center in Johnson City, Tennessee as of the Southern Conference. They finished the season 24–10, 13–5 in SoCon play to finish in a tie for third place. They defeated Chattanooga in the quarterfinals of the SoCon tournament before losing in the semifinals to Wofford. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they lost in the first round to Green Bay.
The 2019 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team represented East Tennessee State University (ETSU) in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season and were in the fourth year of their second stint as football members of the Southern Conference (SoCon). They were led by second-year head coach Randy Sanders and played their home games at William B. Greene Jr. Stadium.
The 2020 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team represented East Tennessee State University (ETSU) in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season and were in the fifth year of their second stint as football members of the Southern Conference (SoCon). They were led by third-year head coach Randy Sanders and played their home games at William B. Greene Jr. Stadium.
The 2022–23 East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball team represented East Tennessee State University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Buccaneers, led by second-year head coach Desmond Oliver, played their home games at the Freedom Hall Civic Center in Johnson City, Tennessee, as members of the Southern Conference. They finished the season 12–20, 8–10 in SoCon play to finish in a tie for fifth place. As the No. 5 seed in the SoCon Tournament, they lost to Western Carolina in the quarterfinals
The 2022 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team represented East Tennessee State University as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Buccaneers were led by first-year head coach George Quarles and play their home games at William B. Greene Jr. Stadium in Johnson City, Tennessee.
The 2023 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team represented East Tennessee State University as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Buccaneers were led by second-year head coach George Quarles and played home games at William B. Greene Jr. Stadium in Johnson City, Tennessee.
The 2023–24 East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball team represented East Tennessee State University in the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Buccaneers, led by first-year head coach Brooks Savage, played their home games at the Freedom Hall Civic Center in Johnson City, Tennessee, as members of the Southern Conference (SoCon). They finished the season 19–16, 8–10 in SoCon play, to finish in a tie for seventh place. They defeated VMI, UNC Greensboro and Chattanooga to advance to the championship game of the SoCon tournament where they lost to Samford.
The 2023–24 East Tennessee State Buccaneers women's basketball team represented East Tennessee State University during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Buccaneers, who were led by second-year head coach Brenda Mock Brown, played their home games at Brooks Gymnasium in Johnson City, Tennessee as members of the Southern Conference (SoCon). They finished the season 18–12, 7–7 in SoCon play, to finish in fifth place.
